The Good, the Bad, and the Insane
by HomeOnTheWastes
Summary: What if Courier Six found a Myst book instead of the Stranger? How would the story change? This is a very AU version of Myst. Don't expect things to remain the same as the games.
1. Prologue

**The Good, the Bad, and the Insane**

**A Fallout/Myst Crossover**

**Prologue**

Six was dreaming. Not what you would call an unusual occurrence, but the content was something of note this time around. Six's run-of-the-mill dreams were the common sort for someone who had seen as much as she had in her lifetime. Blood, guts, screams, and walking into a meeting with the bloodthirsty warlord of Caesar's Legion sans clothes. Stuff like that, but this time was something that reminded her strongly of when she went on the Sorrow's spirit quest to slay Ghost of She.

The colors were saturated and melted together as she walked along an ever changing landscape. Desert into beach into snow into crystal caves into a drowned forest with healthy green trees that soared far above her head. Six watched as they moved and twisted together to form one great tree big enough for a whole race of people to live and thrive on. With no warning it burst into flames. The ashes fell from the sky as the tree disintegrated and formed a new desert. Six continued on the path because she knew she shouldn't linger long. Forward, always forward. At the end of the twisting road was a young tattooed woman who looked for all the world like she had been waiting there for an eternity, or maybe no time at all in the grand scheme of things. Six opened her mouth to greet her, but a thunderous noise and a red flash cut across the heavens.

Courier Six woke up.

An alarm shrieked its banshee song loud enough to drown out the annoyed shouts coming from the various machines that called the Big Mountain's Sink their home. Six jumped out of bed, or tried to. Her feet tangled in her blanket and she ended sprawled across the metal floor instead, the curses spewing from her were lost to the chaos. She shoved the blanket away, and made a second attempt to get to her feet with much more success.

Six found herself glad she hadn't bothered to get undressed before succumbing to the bone tiring exhaustion that had caused her to make a tactical retreat to the Sink lest she collapse in the middle of the Mojave. All she needed before running out the door was her signature duster which she had tossed on the table with her bag when she had stumbled in hours before.

As she was leaving the Sink, Roxie darted up to her and followed hot on her heels as the cyber dog usually did when Six got it into her head to have one of her rare visits to the research facility. Rex would have been right with her if he and pups weren't off visiting Joshua and the Dead Horses in Zion.

The alarms appeared to have only been going off in the Sink because the hallway was dead silent once the door to her living quarters was shut and effectively blocking the noise. Had the doors leading into the Think Tank been the type you could kick down they'd be off their hinges with a new boot print decorating the white metal. Instead, Six settled for the most pissed off face she could muster as she slammed the button to open the door.

The Think Tank was quite simply a mess, and the nut job brains running the place were suspiciously absent amid the chaos. The usually pristine and organized lab was a clutter of thick metal cables, tesla coils, and so many random bit and bobs it would have made any prospector go weak in the knees. In the center of it was an ugly looking machine that stretched all the way up to the ceiling. The thing was throwing out sparks like it was New Years on the Strip, and smoke spewed from every point the cables joined to it. A great ball of static sat in a cylindrical chamber near the base, twisting in a mesmerizing dance. The whole room felt as hot as the Mojave at high noon.

Six shook out her stupor to dart for the cluster of computers that she hoped were the control consoles. Roxie barked in alarm as she ignored the sparks showering down around her. Once there, she took one look at the large switch stuck in the 'On' position, and flipped it down. Relief washed through her when the thing started to slowly settle.

"What have you people done now?" Six groaned, rubbing her eyes. Images of the cazadores and nightstalkers filled her mind only to have them morph into some horrifying hybrid of a deathclaw and a fire gecko. Maybe it was just a death-ray? She could work with that. Crossbred monsters that could easily escape captivity? Not so much.

She looked up towards the elevated part to see the doors to the scientists' quarter were shut and probably locked. One glance at her pip-boy clock confirmed they were getting their batteries charged. Stupid bastards hadn't even heard a thing.

Roxie barked again, and wandered towards the machine with her nose to the ground. She stopped and then straightened up with her head cocked to the side. Before Six could say anything at all, Roxie broke into a run. The Courier could only watch with her jaw hanging open as the cyber dog rushed into the ball of dwindling electricity in the center of the machine. The thing thundered out a deafening bellow as the dog passed through, and for the briefest of seconds Six saw a desert just as the dog disappeared.

That had to be a trick of light.

Six stared down the power switch, and then back up at the slowly dying machine. Shaking her head was the only outward indication that she knew what a bad idea it was to turn the thing back on. She did it anyway.

The thing hummed, getting louder and louder as power surged back through the cables that fed it. The machine gained more momentum turning on than it did power down. The whole thing was alive again and looking ready to explode in seconds, and that was all it took for Roxie to reappear back into the Think Tank.

The switch was jammed back down with so much force it was a wonder it didn't snap off. "Roxie!" Six shouted, more terrified than angry. The dog just wagged her tail and bounded up to her, a thick book in her mouth. She dropped it at her master's feet and sat down with her tongue hanging out and panting. Clearly, she was fine.

"Boone told me teaching you guys to hunt down books for me would one day get us in trouble. I never believed him until now. Seriously Roxie, what the hell? Jumping into one of the Peanut Gallery's creations when we don't even know what it does is just plain dumb," Six ranted as she picked up the book. Roxie went through all that trouble, might as well have a look. It was leather bound and had definitely seen better days. She ran her fingers over the spine, she had never seen leather like it before. "Myst, huh?" Six flipped open the cover, and nearly dropped it. A moving picture was inside of it showing a flyby of a strange island, it went by faster than any vertibird she had ever seen.

Cautiously, Six reached out a hand and touched the picture...and disappeared from the Big Mountain Research Facility.

Prologue End

**Author's Note:**

Yeah, it's not the best start. I'm always terrible with beginnings, but bear with me. I swear this is going somewhere.

Anyway, this is just something I'm doing for fun in my spare time. Don't expect consistent updates or anything like that, it'll be updated when it's updated. On the note of doing this for fun, this is going to be a very AU version of Myst. It'll start out much the same way as the game did, but it's going to branch off as Six does things her own special way using her own special skills. Also, its been a long time since I played any of the Myst games so locations aren't going to be one hundred percent accurate. But don't worry! I still remember the plot, characters, and the general feel of the various ages. I'm also using various Myst Wikis to jog my memory for the things I don't remember too well. If you see something that is different just remind yourself this is an AU.

Thanks for reading,

_Home On The Wastes_

**Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING!**


	2. Life Could Be A Dream

**The Good, the Bad, and the Insane**

**Chapter One: Life Could Be A Dream**

Never in her life had Six seen so much clean water before. The Potomac, and the ocean on the east coast was dirty and as uninviting as water gets, but this...this was beautiful. Blue as far the eye could see with birds squawking over head and little fish darting around happy as can be. The air she breathed in was just as clear as Zion Canyon's. Wherever Six had ended up was a place untouched by the nuclear war that had scorched so much of the world, but that didn't mean it was friendly. The White Legs had taught her that one.

She turned to the sunken ship just off the docks she was standing on, and frowned. There was either quite the drop off beside the place she was standing on, or something wasn't quite right. There was no way a ship that size could be sunken so far down near shore.

Six shook her head and turned away from the water. Focus, that's what she needed to do. Being stuck in an unknown place was not time to daydream. Time to take stock. What did she see and hear? Ocean, birds, a sunken ship, a poorly hidden door in the rock wall, a path leading up, and nothing immediately hostile.

Aside from her pip-boy, what else did she have on her? She turned out all of her pockets and checked the condition of each object as she laid them out on the wood in front of her. The lighter she inherited from Benny, Chance's knife, three stimpaks, one anti-venom, and a small handful of energy cells that were next to useless to her by themselves as most of her weapons were back in Big Mountain.

What did she have by way of protection? The duster gifted her by Ulysses she knew for a fact didn't hold up well in direct combat. The outfit Joshua had given her to replace the armor she had ruined during her time assisting him and the tribes was less likely to tear. She wished she had grabbed her Kevlar vest on her way out the door instead of the coat, but hindsight's 20/20.

So long as she didn't get into any prolonged gunfight she figured she ought to be alright. At least she had stimpaks in case things went to shit. Six pocketed her stuff, making sure the most useful would be in easy to reach places.

Her hands remained shoved into the front pockets of her jeans as she strode up the path away from the docks. Six put conscious effort into making herself seem as relaxed and unassuming as possible on the off chances anyone was watching. The stairs led up to grass so neat and green Six had to stop to confirm the absence of paint. It was like she had been pulled into a pre-war storybook where everything was all smiles and idyllic. The stone buildings were strong and intact, lacking the general decay she had always seen since exiting Vault 101 ages ago.

Still no sign of life. No intelligent life, anyway. The birds were good about reminding her they were there with their constant noises, and little bugs she identified as butterflies from the books she had read fluttered about the healthy foliage. One flew so close to her face she could the pattern of its wings before it landed on a blue flower in front of what could only be a grave stone near one of the buildings. Six knelt by it to examine the inscription.

_Ti'ana_

Strange name, but who was she to judge? Six couldn't even remember her own name anymore, her past before she turned nineteen was a spotty thing at best. One big white blur with little snippets of things in between. Severe head trauma and blood loss will do that to person.

If anyone was going to come out to greet her than they would have done it by now. She stood and made her way back to the docks so she could examine that door in the rock with some confidence no one would come up and bash the back of skull in while she was distracted. Six took another moment to admire the water before turning back to her mission. As she raised a hand to open the door it occurred to her that if anyone still did live here they wouldn't want some random stranger poking around their things...and then she remembered Andale. The lesson she had learned there was: Always check a person's basement and/or shed before trusting them completely. Besides, if she was quick and careful the residents might never know.

The door opened to what Six would call a moderate sized room with a circular table in the center that instantly reminded her of the Sink Center Intelligence Unit. The floor had repeating patterns on the dark marble that Six could only describe as ostentatious. Who would need anything like that on a floor if it'd just get dirty when people walked on it? Her mind was already conjuring up an image of the owner as someone like a member of the White Glove Society or the people who had lived at Tenpenny's place, and wasn't that just a skin crawling thought?

As she lent over to examine every inch of the machine to check for buttons and switches Six imagined Tenpenny wearing a White Gloves' mask. There was little doubt in her mind that would be appearing in her nightmares the next time she closed her eyes. That whole sleep thing was sounding less and less like a good idea as the years rolled by.

Six found a button and pushed it in with no hesitation. The machine turned on, but nothing happened. Her shoulders dropped in disappointment. Whatever happened to computers laying around that she could hack with her amazing technical skills? The contraptions of the Big MT were more straight forward and less obtuse than whatever this thing was. She gave it a swift kick and went to head back outside in defeat and disappointment. All of that for nothing. What if she had been caught?

All of that flew out the nearest metaphorical window when she spotted the panel on the wall by the door. Unfortunately, when she went in for a closer inspection her sudden enthusiasm died a painful death just as fast. Two notes were taped to the wall. One detailed various settings on the device behind her, and the other was a torn letter addressed to someone named Catherine.

"Marker switches? What is this Bighorner crap?"

Chapter One End

**Author's Notes:**

It didn't make much sense to me to have the letter to Catherine just laying around outside where a breeze could blow it away, so I moved it into the Forechamber. I apologize if this minor change upsets you.

Thanks for your time,

_Home On the Wastes_

**Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING**


	3. Back In the Saddle Again

**The Good, the Bad, and the Insane**

**Chapter Two: Back In the Saddle Again**

"_Catherine, my love, I have to leave quickly. Something terrible has happened. It's hard for me to believe. Most of my books have been destroyed. I suspect Achenar, but I-I shouldn't leap to conclusions. It might have been Sirrus as well. Ah, I should have known not to have left my library unchecked for so long! Well, I've removed the remaining undamaged books from my library and placed them in places of protection. You shouldn't have to use the books until I return, but...If you've forgotten the access key, remember the tower rotation. And, don't worry, Catherine, everything will be fine. I'll see you shortly. Oh, and...and erase this message after you've viewed it, just to be safe."_

Six blinked as the man's face and the message he left faded away on the machine. So, this Achenar and/or Sirrus were burning books from the sounds of it. If those books were anything like the one that had brought her to this place than the man in the recording (whoever he was) was really saying that they were destroying transporters of some type. Why disguise them as books? And if they were something as important as transporters than why leave them unguarded, and out in the open? That was just begging for trouble.

This guy, probably the owner of the island, so far didn't strike Six as someone with an abundance of foresight. He only moved his transporters to safes after the majority had been destroyed. Also making the code for an important message the number of switches scattered about the island was bordering on ridiculous. Assuming the mysterious vandal hadn't killed the man, she ought to convince him to hire her to design him a knew security system. Six was thinking something along the lines of pressure plates rigged with explosives, or maybe something like the Sierra Madre's vault. It all depended on how ambitious she was feeling, and how much she could get the guy to pay her. Judging by his taste of decor he had to be the rich type.

Now with more questions than answers, Six stalked out of the room and headed back up the path for the third time. Deciding it was time she stop messing about, she headed up to what she guessed must have been the main building. She paused only briefly to consider the purpose of the poles lining the walking on the either side of a small fountain. When she had gone on the search to count the Marker Switches she had taken the time to examine them and found small displays on them that lit up by the press of a button. This whole island was proving to be one of the most bizarre places she had ever been to.

Six pushed open the door to the important looking building and cautiously poked her head inside. If the empty shelves were anything to go by then the place was the library. Most of the books were missing, just like the recording said they would be. No, not missing, burned.

"Hello?" She called as she stepped inside, her hand lingering on the knife she had hidden in her coat. "I don't mean any trouble." Her boots clacked against the polished wooden floor as she stepped into the center. No one answered, and there was no one hiding that she could see. Six checked around the ceiling, but found no cameras. It did have a pretty painting of a cloudy sky on it though. That was nice, but useless to her.

Her paranoia satisfied for the moment, she closed the front door and examined the room more thoroughly. The only two intact books in the room could wait. The library was oddly shaped with eight walls, only one of which contained a bookcase. Not much of a collection unless the owner stored more elsewhere. Paintings hung on three of walls, a fireplace on the forth, and two displays with the only books still present.

Red and blue. Unmarked, and left innocuously out in the open. Alarm bells went off in Six's head as she approached the blue book, because red only ever made her think of the Legion since Nipton. Some superstitious part of her made her avoid anything with the color like it was diseased if she had any choice in the matter.

So what were the books rigged with? Explosives? No, she discovered no wires or pressure plate after examining the book and the shelf. It wasn't the floor in front of it, she had tested it before even thinking about settling her feet there. No sensors, no hidden guns, nothing. It was just a book on a shelf.

Not entirely convinced it wasn't booby-trapped, Six place her fingertips on the edge of the cover. She took a deep breath and flipped it open before jumping as far back as she could, rolling away to get even farther. Six was back against the door in seconds ready to bash the door open again if the whole room even hinted it might start exploding.

"_Sirrus? Is that you?"_ A distorted voice said coming from the book.

Six, feeling only a little foolish, went back to stand in front of the object. Instead of a flyby of another location like the other book there was a man inside. The view was grainy like old pre-war footage someone had managed to salvage and get playing again. She could see he was a big man, someone who could give Ulysses a run for his money, with thick dark hair. She couldn't really make out much more than that.

"_Who are you?" _The man asked.

"Can you hear me?" If the video quality was anything to go by then there was no guarantee the audio would be in anyway reliable. What if the communication was only one way?

"_...see you...Achenar...to help me...to bring...blue pages to...forever and ever...blue pages...I must have the blue pages...Bring them to me, please." _

The man was clearly out of it. Whether that was only a temporary breakdown, or something more of norm for him was something Six didn't have the information to say. He mentioned Achenar, the supposed book burner, but she couldn't tell in what context.

"Can you hear me? Are you Achenar?" Six tried again, but she could only watch as the quality of the video degraded further until she could only see static with glimpses of the man between it all. She closed the book and left it where it was for the time being. Fat lot of help that was.

She scratched the back of her head as she regarded the remaining book. Six sighed, and opened it in much the same way she had opened its twin, but she didn't jump back quite so far.

"_Who's...re?" _

Six got closer to get into view, and behind the view screen she saw a man who had to be related to the one in the blue book. The family resemblance was too strong not to be. This one was thinner though, and appeared to be a lot less frazzled. His eyes though...they reminded her a little too strongly of Vulpes Inculta's, cold as ice. Maybe it was just the distortion.

"_Who are you?" _The man asked.

"Can you hear me?" Six tried, hoping for better results this time.

The man shook his head, _"You must help me, please...Bring me the red page...I can't...I can't see you...hear me...I need a red page, you must bring me a red page...please bring...beg of you, bring the page...Help me...I am Sirrus...Given up long ago...There is one thing I need to be rescued...You must..."_ His time was up. The static took over the image, and drowned out whatever else he was going to say.

She slammed the book shut, and placed her hands on her hips. Six blew an errant strand of hair out of her face as she thought. Out of pure reflex she brought up her pip-boy. Her health and vitals was still displayed, but the signal to Vault Tech had been lost. She couldn't even pick up the Mysterious Broadcast, and that said something because she could usually pick that up from anywhere else she had been. The only map available was the one the pip-boy was automatically filling in as she made progress exploring the island. Six took a moment to mark the building she was in as 'The Library' before switching to her journal to log in what she knew, and what she needed to do.

Two brothers are trapped in prisons disguised as books. One claims to be Sirrus, a man alluded to by another as a possible culprit for vandalism. The other is potentially Achenar, the other suspect. However, that has not been confirmed. They both asked for pages of the corresponding colors. Red for Sirrus. Blue for Achenar(?). Search the island for more clues.

Objectives:

Find out more about the man who left the message in the room below.

Find out more about Sirrus.

Find out more about Achenar.

Find the pages.

Find the safes containing the remaining books.

She logged out her journal, and grinned. She loved a good mystery, and this was the most exciting thing that had happened to her since the Second Battle of Hoover Dam. This was going to be fun, she could feel it.

Chapter Two End

**Author's Note:**

A big thank you to the Myst Wiki D'ni for the transcripts of the dialogue, they were a big help. You people deserve cookie flavors of your choice.

Thanks for reading,

_Home On the Wastes _


	4. Hound Dog

**The Good, the Bad, and the Insane**

**Chapter Three: Hound Dog**

The sun was going down, but that didn't bother Six. She sat on the steps leading down to the dock with her chin her hands, and just watched as the colors slowly began to paint the sky alternating shades of purple and orange. After her encounter with the books she had made it her mission to uncover the purpose of every building and log it into her pip-boy. The Planetarium had been a surprise, as had all the possible dates on it, but it didn't help her cause.

In the library she had discovered a secret passage accessible through one of the paintings on the wall. It had led to an elevator she was waiting to explore later. One step at a time, that's the way she was taking this.

A noise from the docks that wasn't in anyway part of the environment cut through her musing with enough efficiency to make a Ranger proud. Six stood and made her way slowly down the steps, but when she heard the excited bark she broke into a ran. Roxie met her halfway, and jumped up to lick her face in greeting. She barked again and ran in circle as Six laughed.

"Are you here to rescue me, girl?" Six asked, kneeling down to pet her, and get a better look at the object attached to her collar. "What do you have here, hm? Is it for me?" It was a holodisk bearing the Think Tank's signature on it. "Did they send you through as a test rat?" Six muttered as she inserted the object into her pip-boy.

"_Um...is this...is thing thing on? It is? Good. Six-assuming you're still alive and this book thing really is a teleporter like Klein theorizes, and isn't just vaporizing everything it touches—we're working on finding your signal, but its completely disappeared off the map. Which is weird. But, if you're still alive just...kind of...I don't know...don't go too far? Make our job a little easier, you know. Um, so, yeaaaah. This is Dr. Zero, signing off." _

The tape ended with a click, and Six rolled her eyes. Roxie got her attention again by pawing at the small compartment in her side that Six usually used to store things on long journeys. The Courier caught on, and opened it to find the Transportalponder, the spare lockpicking gear she always stored on her, and the Sonic Emitter with some energy cells.

Already guessing what would happen, Six looped an arm around Roxie's neck and pulled the trigger on the Transportalponder.

'NO SIGNAL', flashed on screen as it did whenever she tried to use it indoors, or on the Strip for whatever reason.

She breathed out a sigh and said, "Worth a shot. Thanks anyway, girl." She clipped the device to her belt, and stood as Roxie whined in disappointment. She patted the cyber dog's head in consolation. Six hadn't really want to go back to the wasteland anytime soon anyway. Too much to do here.

The Sonic Emitter was far from her first choice in weaponry, but the options for Roxie to bring her would have been limited with the Think Tank's thoughts on combat in general. She pointed it towards the water and fired it to hear 'Gabriel's Bark' come out of it. Close by birds squawked in alarm as the sound waves disturbed the water even though none of them were hit.

It would do.

Six put it in the empty holster on her side before heading back to the library for a quick power nap. It seemed like the only thing she had to worry about at the moment were the two prisoners, but they hadn't communicated that they were in any immediate danger, so they could wait a bit. Even if there was anyone lurking on the island to ambush her, she had Roxie with her and Six had yet to meet anyone who could sneak up on a cyber dog.

**.2.**

Sleep had come with more strange dreams again, but they were mostly forgotten when she awoke a short time later. Something about change, something was changing. Something had been wrong.

Six shrugged it off with the practiced ease of someone who made it a habit of not lingering in any one place or on any given thing for extended periods. From her spot at the beginning of the secret passage, she gave the books a lasting glance as she considered trying to question the men, but discarded the idea as a useless venture. Six gestured to Roxie and they continued on to the elevator.

Inside was just enough room for Roxie and her as long as the dog didn't squirm around too much. She shut the old fashioned door and pushed the button to go down, but nothing happened. Busted. Six retrieved the screwdriver from Roxie's compartment to pry the panel off.

Someone in the past had fried the circuitry inside, and whoever had tried to fix it afterward had done a poor job. They either hadn't know entirely what they were doing, or they were in a hurry to get to the top. She stared at the guts of the machine for a long time as she considered what to do. The tech was old. Like pre-pre war. Six had to recall as far back as the robotics classes Mr. Brotch had taught her when she was about ten. She couldn't grasp the exact memory, but she still remembered what she had been learned.

Rewiring the elevator took longer than it probably should have, what with Roxie getting antsy and her operating on memories that were well over a decade old. She could only pray it was worth the effort. Her luck had proven to be a schizophrenic thing in the past. It would either lead her to a secret lab full of dangerous monsters, or the place the owner stored his rock collection. Guess which one she would find more interesting.

The elevator jerked before rattling down the shaft. The trip was a short one, and Roxie was bounding out of the elevator in no time at all. Six followed at a much more sedate pace.

The hallway leading away from the elevator was a much more cheery affair than the decor on the floor above. It was well lit by wall lamps separated at even intervals on light colored wood. The end opened up into a wide sitting room area with simple, but comfortable looking couches surrounding a large fireplace. Small pictures lined the mantel. Six went in for a closer look and found two with likenesses of the men trapped in the books. Definitely close family.

The remaining pictures depicted the man in glasses who had left the message in the hidden chamber, a dark haired woman, and another woman who was positively ancient. The picture of the man showed him at a desk surrounded by books of all shapes and sizes. Six picked up his picture and held it up beside the other two males. One big family. What were they to each other? Brothers? Cousins? The man in the glasses didn't look anywhere near old enough to be a father or uncle to the other two. The younger woman—Catherine, perhaps—who was she to them? She looked nothing like Glasses Man, but shared a few vague features with Sirrus. And what of the old woman? A grandmother? Maybe the one tie that connected them all together. The only thing she could say for sure was that the man who might be Achenar was the spitting image of Glasses Man with the prior being a little buffer and scruffier, and the latter a little older.

Roxie let out a bark. Six looked down at her to see what the problem was, and found the dog sniffing at the fireplace. It was full of ashes and the remains of burned books. She got down and shifted through them. Someone had tried to destroy a great many of them in a hurry. The fire hadn't been big enough to completely incinerate them, but simply opening the covers on a few of the more intact ones proved enough damage had been done. All of the little screens inside showed only static.

Ashes covered the stone in front of the fireplace by the time she was done. Six brushed her hand off on her jeans as she stood up.

"What else, Roxie?" She asked her.

The dog put her nose to the ground, her tail wagging. Six remained in the sitting room as Roxie began her investigation, a painting had caught her eye near the entrance of the hallway Roxie had disappeared through. It showed the Glasses Man holding an open book standing behind the dark hair woman in a red dress. Two small boys were playing with the toy ship in the fountain on the surface. Six gave it bewildered look that she transferred back to the pictures on the mantel. No way. Those little kids couldn't possibly be the same people as the other two. This portrait couldn't be that old, because that would mean Glasses Man and the woman hadn't aged a day in the time it took for the kids to grow up. Those two kids had to be different people, or something was really off here.

Roxie's bark drew her attention back to the present. Six left the painting to find her dog. Roxie's head was poking out of the second door down the left side of the hall. The Courier looked briefly into each room as she passed. She saw what she guessed to be the master bedroom, and an office that had been thoroughly tossed. The room across from where Roxie was waiting had a closed door.

"What is it?" Six asked as she stepped into a bedroom so extravagantly decorated it would have impressed even Dean Domino. She gave a low whistle at the sight, "Someone likes gold." She pushed down on the bed, and found it fluffy as a cloud. Talk about living like a king. Not even her bed at the Luck 38 had been that soft.

Roxie wagged her tail and sat down beside the dresser, looking up at her expectantly. Six took the hint and began pulling open drawers. She shoved aside oddly designed clothes with little care. In the first drawer she found a dagger which she pocketed. In the second she didn't find anything out of place, but she did discover what type of underwear the owner of the room wore. In the third, hidden under a single layer of pants, were bottles of morphine and hypodermic needles. Morphine. That stuff had been phased out by Med-X sometime in the early stages of the Resource War. If she recalled her medical studies right, than morphine had an even higher addiction rate. Nasty stuff.

"Do you suppose this room belongs to one of the prisoners?"

Roxie barked and jumped onto the bed. She rolled around on the red comforter, effectively rubbing her dirty fur all over it. Six really hoped the owner wasn't going to come by anytime soon. Things might get awkward if that were the case.

"Just because it's red doesn't mean it belongs to Sirrus." Roxie gave her no answer of any kind. "Come on, we've got other rooms to search. This mystery isn't going to solve itself."

The cyber dog obediently leapt off the bed, and joined her as she exited the room.

"You are getting some treats the minute I find something suitable for dogs."

Roxie wagged her tail.

Chapter Three End

**Author's Note:**

The AU begins! Expect more departures from the Myst storyline in the future. Something as silly as a broken elevator isn't going to keep this Courier from her meddling. I suppose I really should put the Courier's stats on here just so people know. Or not. It could be a surprise!

For those of you who must know, this Courier focuses on Speech, Repair, Medicine, Science, Survival and Lockpicing. I think it's relevant to mention that she has Jury Rigging and Logan's Loophole.

**Also, the disclaimer I keep forgetting to add: I OWN NOTHING!**

Thanks for your time,

_Home On the Range_


	5. Something's Gotta Give

**The Good, the Bad, and the Insane**

**Chapter Four: Something's Gotta Give**

Six put the last intact diary down on the desk, and leaned back in the chair with her fingers laced behind her head. She had found four scattered around the office. It looked like someone had knocked them over when they had been grabbing books from the bookshelves, and had just forgotten about them. They detailed a man named Atrus' expeditions to places he called 'Ages' through use of his 'Linking Books'. He called it 'The Art', but it sounded an awful lot like magic to her.

A sigh escaped her. She raised her pip-boy up to check the time. It was ten at night, it had been awhile since she had talked to the prisoners. Maybe she should check on them? Try getting some more answers.

She tapped her foot on the floor, and fingered the note she had discovered on the desk. It was written from Atrus to Catherine in a hurry. It simply told her to go to the 'Forechamber'. Six guessed he was talking about the room on the docks with the longer message to his wife taped to the wall telling her the code to access the secret video file. She shook her head before standing and leaving the room. Roxie was out of her light doze and following in the blink of an eye. There was no point in talking to Sirrus and Achenar without their pages. If she got them then she could offer them in exchange for information.

The one in the blue book was indeed Achenar the son of Atrus, and Sirrus' brother. Atrus had to be a lot older than he looked in his pictures. Well, if he wrote magic books than it wouldn't be too far out there for him to have the secret to eternal youth, or whatever. Six had seen weirder. The Auto Doc in the Sink swore up and down the procedure he put her under had made her close to ageless. 'Logan's Loophole', he called it. What a load of crap.

Atrus sounded like a well-meaning, smart sort of man. A little like Arcade without the cynicism. From his writings, she guessed that he was the type of dad that was always out and about. Not much time for the kids he, at one point in his journals, called 'a nuisance'. Well-meaning, intelligent, but not in the running for the Dad of the Year award. Well, not everyone could be like her own father.

But now, one or both of his sons were up to shenanigans with Atrus nowhere to be found.

She had checked all the rooms in the living area, but had found nothing of interest beyond the drugs. The second bedroom had been a juxtaposition of the first one. The bed hadn't been made, clothes were strewn about the floor, a wall had a hole in it close enough to floor that someone must have put their foot through it, and maps had cluttered a desk. Whoever stayed in that room must have had a fascination with bones because she found a number of small ones in a box under the bed, and some had been glued together in the beginnings of some sort of model.

The master bedroom was organized, and definitely had a woman's touch. The lace around the throw pillows and the flowery patterns were a dead giveaway. All she found in there were regular books and clothes. No clues to help her situation.

There was one more bedroom at the very back. Six guessed it had once belonged to the old woman in the painting, who probably now resided in the grave in front of the library. A fine layer of dust coated everything. Six had become an expert in abandoned places out of pure necessity, and so she would say that no one had entered for at least a year or more. Painful memories?

It had been fairly obvious to her that she had no business being in there. There were only so many lines she was willing to cross.

No red or blue pages in the entire area.

Six walked back to the elevator, and took it all the way to the top. It led to a barren circular room with plaques on the wall and a rolling ladder attached to a ledge above. There was a long vertical slit in the ceiling. The whole room reminded her of an observatory without the telescope. She already felt a headache coming on.

"Settle down, Roxie, we're going to be here for awhile."

**.2.**

She knew there was something weird going on with that ship. Atrus' 'Place of Protection' had turned out to be hiding his Linking Book on the ship and guarding it with an elaborate puzzle. Astronomy had always been a poor subject of hers. Growing up underground had made the topic moot to her teacher, and the pollution still hanging around had always made it a chore to view the sky when she had escaped the Vault. Trying to match star patterns she couldn't make her mind see to pictures on poles with her pip-boy as the only light source had exhausted her mentally. Six had to sleep on Atrus' couch until morning before she felt well enough to see where the book was going to take her.

Six had found a well used bag in the master bedroom, and looted the kitchen for supplies. She didn't even know if there would be a way back if she went through, but this was the only lead she had.

On her way back out she had checked on Sirrus and Achenar, but found only static on their screens. She thought Sirrus had tried to say something to her, but she couldn't make any of it out. After some consideration she bagged both books. They had answers, and she was their only hope for freedom. If she couldn't come back to talk to them then all three of them would be out of luck. She had a strong back, and had hauled things a lot heavier than those two books all across the United States wasteland.

The unmarked book in the cabin at the stern of the ship was the one that led to Stoneship. According to Atrus' journal it was populated by a small group of people, so it was a good place to start. The flyby showed the Age was having one of its rare storms. She hated rain. Had since she had been introduced to the poison that came down from the sky in the capital wasteland.

"Roxie, can you follow me if I set this on the floor?" Six asked. The dog gave her an affirmative bark in reply. She moved the book to the ground and made sure it would stay open by going back out to find rocks that would weigh down the cover.

Six touched the page and forced herself to relax as her vision blacked out. A loud sound filled her ears just before her sight came back to her. It was approaching dusk in Stoneship when she arrived. She now stood on the deck of a ship that was partially stuck in the side of a small mountain rising from the sea. Just like Atrus said it would be. A few moments went by before Roxie appeared in a shimmer of gold. The dog howled at the sky. Six listened to it echo away from them without any noise to answer back.

"I thought it was storming?" Six ran her fingers through her short her to push it back. "I guess the preview isn't in real time."

She looked down into the cabin of the ship, but found it pitch black inside. Simply switching on her pip-boy light fixed the problem, and allowed her to explore down the short set of stairs. It went down below water level. Six tried looking out the window, but the darkness made it impossible to see anything at all.

There was some nice furniture, but nothing of any particular interest. Not even anything she would have looted had she still been in the Wasteland. Six headed back up to find Roxie lounging on the deck. The Courier ignored her dog, and headed along the narrow bridge that led to the lighthouse.

The bottom half was flooded leaving only a small walkway leading up to ladder beneath a locked trapdoor. Six called for Roxie who ran over to her with the promptness programmed into all law enforcement cyber dogs. She retrieved the bobby pins and screwdriver from Roxie's storage compartment and went to work on the padlock.

Whoever had locked it must not have been too worried about burglars because it didn't take anytime at all to get it open. The bobbypin didn't even break.

Six tossed the padlock into the water and scaled the ladder. The top was empty aside from a device that took her a minute to identify it as a hand-crank battery. She turned it a bit for no reason other than pure whimsy. The storage for the power was dead, and her few turns of the crank only filled it a bit. She pulled out an energy cell and eyed the wires connecting the crank-battery to the outgoing wires that powered the surrounding structures.

More than aware it was dangerous to mess with wires without rubber gloves, she began to tinker with the power supply. It wouldn't be the first time she had been electrocuted.

She headed back down the ladder once she was satisfied that the energy cell would do its job more reliably than the previous set up had. A light drizzle had started by the time she made back outside. The clouds were starting to get angry, and Six did not doubt that she would feel the true extent of their rage if she lingered in the Age for too long.

The pair headed back up to the deck of the broken ship. Six checked in the tunnel leading into the mountain, but found it flooded. She continued on across the remaining bridge to finish mapping out the main level. A tiny island sat at the very end. A large black umbrella offered crude protection to three pneumatic buttons. She pressed one, and listened to something that sounded suspiciously like pumps. Vault 101 had ones that sounded just like it that kept the ground water from flooding in.

"Go see what it did." Six pointed back the way they came and the dog ran off in that direction. She waited until she heard a signaling bark. She turned to see where Roxie was standing. "The lighthouse drained?" Six called back to the dog who answered back with a single bark that was Roxie's version of yes. "Anything important?" The wait was longer this time, but she eventually received two barks in quick succession.

Six pressed another button, and less than a minute passed before she received an excited bark.

"The tunnel? Alright, I'm coming back." As she was making her way back over the bridge the rain picked up a bit. They needed to hurry.

There were no signs of the people Atrus had claimed lived in the Age. They were either hiding, or something was wrong. Just more to add to the mystery.

Before heading down the dripping stairs, Six chanced a look into the ship and found that was now flooded with water instead. That was fast. Had it been in interest of conserving power that the pumps worked in rotation, or something else? Six filed the question away for later as she descended down the lit staircase with Roxie. The inside of the rock reminded her of an old fashioned military bunker with its plain concrete and metal.

"Hello? I come in peace." Six called, not really expecting an answer which was fortunate because she didn't get one. "It's as dead as the island. Isn't that just depressing?" Roxie whined in agreement. "At least there isn't any Security Holograms." Six shuddered, "Be glad you didn't come with me to the Sierra Madre, girl." Roxie whined again.

The end of the long staircase ended at a pressurized door which opened into a bedroom that was like the red one back on the island, but even more opulent. Gold gilded almost everything. A large bed sat in the center covered in a thick red blanket. On either side she discovered orbs that were the oddest holographic projectors she had ever seen, one depicted a cloudy sky and the other rushing water. Someone had boring taste.

Six dropped the bag and collapsed into the chair by the desk for a brief rest. There was model of a tower with an orb on top that split apart and spun before returning to its original form when she poked it. Weird. She pulled open the desk drawer unsurprised to see more drugs inside. More morphine, another liquid she couldn't identify, unmarked white pills, and a small knife.

She retrieved some water from her bag and took a sip before putting it back. Break time was over. Six tossed the room with the same amount of care she afforded to any abandoned house she encountered in the Wastes. She tossed the pillows on the ground and found another dagger. She pulled down the blankets, lifted the mattress, and rolled up the carpet. Six discovered a secret compartment in the floor which contained something which did surprise her. There was an old photo of the old woman whom Six was guessing was Ti'ana holding the hand of a very young boy, a faded letter in a battered envelope addressed to Sirrus, and a simple silver locket that still shined like new. The locket was shut, and there wasn't a key to be found. Her bobbypins would never fit into such a tiny lock so she didn't even bother to try. Six left the items where they were.

The dresser was next. She pulled open each drawer individually. The first couple contained jewels and even a pearl necklace Six was willing to bet was real. The next she opened contained fine dishes. Well, if she needed to cook someone a good dinner—and she didn't want to give them her old standby of gecko kebobs and sarsaparilla—she knew where to find the tableware. No, those dishes begged for something fancy like fire ant fricassee or brahmin steak, and a nice desert salad on the side.

The next filled drawer held bolts of fine cloth. The one with the crescent moon and cross pattern struck her as especially tacky, but then again what did she know?

Lo and behold the last drawer contained the much sought after red page. She might have actually have called it pink had she not known any better. Six turned it over, but found no writing on it that she could see.

The Courier snagged it up and dug around for in her bag for the corresponding book. She set it on the desk and paused. There were two ways to add a page to a book. You can tape or glue it if you were the sloppy, lazy type. The other way was to restring the whole thing. In order to do that, you have to take the whole book apart. Six had no adhesive, and she didn't think Sirrus would appreciate her removing all the pages if he was so adamant on finding the missing one.

Without any better ideas, she stuck it in the middle of the book and hoped it would work even if it was loose. When she closed the cover again a noise similar to the one she now associated with Linking came from it. Six flipped open the cover to see the static had cleared up significantly.

Sirrus smiled and looked to have been about to say something before he blinked. His good cheer faded, "Is that Stoneship? Why did you take...there?...my room?" He shook his head, "You must continue to help me...Release me...I beg you to find the remaining red pages. You must release me...release me from this book that has become...Bring...red page...I need more pages, please...I beg...don't waste time looking...don't...my brother...my brother is guilty...and I wrongfully imprisoned...bring the red page to me..."

"Yeah, red pages, I got it. In the meantime, want to hazard a guess where everyone in Stoneship is?" Six asked.

Before Sirrus could answer, the static came back with a vengeance, and wasn't that a tad...convenient? She shut the cover, and put Sirrus back in the bag next to his brother.

He claims Achenar is the guilty one, but Sirrus could say that he's the dancing queen of the Nightstalkers. That doesn't necessarily make it true. What he said didn't really interest her. What did was how he was acting. He was desperate, but that was to be expected in his situation. The static had made it hard to make out to those who didn't know what to look for, but she could see that he had been sweating an awful lot and his eyes were watery.

Sirrus was in the beginning stages of withdrawal.

If Morphine withdrawal was anything like Med-X than it wasn't fatal. It would just be an exceedingly unpleasant experience. That actually added more reason to hurry. Sirrus looked to be alone in whatever place he was in, and an addict really needed monitoring while they were going cold turkey.

Six picked her bag back up and headed back up the stairs. She was so focused on her thoughts that she didn't notice Roxie wasn't following her until she heard a bark. She spun on her heel to see the dog pawing at a wall on the landing below in earnest.

"What did you find?" Six murmured as she walked back over. A perfect square near the bottom was indented into the wall. The panel slid open abruptly when she pushed against it. Six went in first, and found the other side to be a long dark hallways that ended in a room with windows showing the underwater landscape lit up by submerged lamps presumably powered by the energy cell she had installed in the lighthouse. On the ground was a compass rose surrounded by small buttons. She couldn't even begin to guess what the purpose of it was. Knowing Atrus, it was part of something needlessly complicated.

The compass was ignored in favor of continuing her search. She continued down the hall that branched out of the room, and ended up at another secret door identical to the first. The stairwell she ended up in was the twin to the one that led to Sirrus' room.

Six and Roxie headed down, and found another bedroom. The first thing that drew her attention was the lamp made out of a human rib cage displayed in such a way that it was the first thing anyone would see when they walked in. It was the type of decoration a raider would have, only with much less blood. She would have to give Achenar credit for being more sanitary.

That opinion changed when she turned and saw his bed. The mattress looked a lot like the ones in the Atomic Wrangler. If she needed to stay in Stoneship for a prolonged period she knew what room she would not be staying in. She was so amazed by the horror show of a mattress she almost didn't notice the blue page laying on it. Six picked it up, but didn't get out the book yet.

She tried the dresser first. There was a holographic display on top that had two settings: a rose and a skull. Classy. The drawers contained almost nothing, but maps. Achenar must have been interested in cartography with the amount of maps he owned. One drawer was different in that it contained a ripped in half note. She scanned it, but without the other half it was next to useless to her. It had something to do with those Marker Switches she had spent way too long looking for and counting when she had first arrived on the island. There had been a mention of some kind of vault, and that was something to keep in mind. She took the time to transcribe it into her pip-boy notes before moving on.

She wandered back over to the ribcage lamp, and looked at the things that accompanied it on the rough wooden table. Bottles of poison, judging by the skull and crossbones on the front of each. Did he plan on poisoning someone, had he already, or did he just keep the bottles around for a rainy day?

The rest of her search came up with various hidden weapons, and bones belonging to small animals. The mace she found still had old bloodstains on it. Achenar was proving to be quite the charming individual. No wonder Atrus suspected him of being responsible for burning the books in the library and office. If Atrus was as good natured as she had picked up in his writings than why tolerate the violent behavior she was already beginning to suspect of Achenar, or even Sirrus' drug habit? Did he even know? The journals did seem to indicate he wasn't close to his sons.

Six retrieved the blue book from her bag and place it on the table in such a way that Achenar would clearly see that she had found his collection before reattaching the blue page. When she opened the cover again Achenar looked at her, peered around at what he could see of her surroundings and burst into hysterical laughter. It wasn't a warm, happy laughter. It was the type of someone who had truly reached the end of their rope. The type that comes with the realization that there's no point. Six had heard it enough in Camp Forlorn Hope to identify it immediately.

"Stoneship! My room! You've seen it!" He broke off in combination of being out of breath and the static. When he started speaking between gasps again he said, "What...Ages survived?...Where did she...pages? What more will you see because of...I'll never escape..." That seemed to be more than the man could take. He appeared to have doubled over out of view, and the static covered the screen once more.

That was interesting. Was that an omission of guilt or something else? She still needed more information to come up with any kind of theory. Achenar was a few cards short of full house. Getting anything reliable out of him would be a chore, but not impossible. She'd have to try him again later when he had calmed down a bit.

Roxie's ears perked up and her head jerked to the door. She barked three times excitedly. Six shoved the book back in her bag in hurry, that was Roxie's way of alerting her that she had detected someone. The dog dashed out of the room with the Courier right on her trail. She glanced down at her pip-boy's proximity detector on the compass to see there was a blue tick on it that didn't belong to her dog. They came to a skidding stop at the top of the staircase and looked around through the light rain that was coming down.

"Hello?" Six called. "We don't mean any harm." She turned to Roxie who had her nose to the ground. "Where'd they go?" Six consulted her pip-boy, but the blue tick was gone. She obediently followed Roxie to the entrance of the ship. The cabin was still flooded, if anyone had gone in there to hide from them then they would have to be holding their breath. "I guess we're not as alone here as we thought." Six muttered more to herself than to Roxie.

She hurried back to the pneumatic buttons, and pressed them until the ship drained of water. When she went back to investigate the inside, no one was there. Roxie had been sitting by the entrance so no one had run out while she had been making her way back.

"Are you sure you detected someone?" Six asked. Sure, her pip-boy had also picked up something, but that could have easily have been a bird or something. Crows in particular liked to mess with her on long treks through the desert.

Roxie growled at her. Six held up her hands in surrender, backing down. There was enough strange things going on that maybe someone did disappear in thin air. Whoever it was could have had a teleporting book for all she knew. Though if they did she didn't find it when she went searched around. From what she had observed, the books usually stayed behind when they were used.

"Alright Roxie, if you were Atrus, where would you stash a teleporting book back home? Where would you hide it...oh, god. How much do you want to bet it has something to do with that compass rose downstairs?" Roxie's ears flattened against her head. "Let's just get out of the rain. You can jump on Sirrus' bed while I try and work out Aturs' own particular brand of logic. I'm sure Mr. Red Pages won't mind."

Roxie wagged her tail and raced away.

Chapter Four End

**Author's Note:**

I really don't want to detail solving the puzzles for a number of reasons I won't bother to list. You'll be out of luck if you're stuck on a puzzle and hoping for a solution somewhere in here.

About the changed dialogue. The Stranger didn't take the Trap Books with them. The brother's had no way to know where the missing pages were. They certainly didn't put them in their various rooms scattered around Ages that held evidence against them. They couldn't have realized that the Stranger had seen such proof of their crimes until it was too late for them. In the game, they probably thought the pages were in innocuous places. Nothing that would betray their natures too strongly. Because the Courier took the books with her, things are different.

_Warning: Spoilers for Myst IV._

About Achenar's new dialogue. Achenar, to me, seemed less delusional than Sirrus. More psychotic, yes, but less delusional. There is a difference. Sirrus has always struck me as someone who would reject reality if it didn't fit into his preconceived notions of how he imagined things to be. He would absolutely refuse to see things for how they are no matter how much evidence there is to the contrary. This is best seen in Myst IV. His entire motivation in that game was mostly powered by his inability to cope with other people's viewpoints. He is right, everyone else is wrong. End of story.

Achenar, on the other hand, eventually does come to terms with things. He seems more likely to see where things were going, and react accordingly. He comes to accept there isn't a Linking Book on Haven long before Sirrus does. He learns to see things from his mother and father's point of view. He changes. In this story, when he realizes that the Courier has seen enough to draw conclusions he doesn't even try to continue lying again. I think Achenar is smarter than most people give him credit for.

I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong, but this is how I see things.

Stay tuned to see what Achenar does with this change of circumstances.

Thanks for reading,

_Home On the Wastes_


	6. Butcher Pete and the Devil In Disguise

**The Good, the Bad, and the Insane**

**Chapter Five: Butcher Pete and the Devil In Disguise**

Why couldn't Atrus use a combination lock like a normal person? It took her an hour before she discovered just touching the table at the bottom of the stairs in the ship would reveal the Linking Book back to Myst hidden by some form of holographic generator. To be fair, it had slowed her down by quite a bit. Not as much as a combination without the code would have, but it had served its intended purpose for that hour of uninterrupted experimenting.

As it turned out, she had handicapped herself during Atrus' little puzzle. The purpose of the compass rose had been to turn on the submerged lights so someone could see inside the ship, and nothing else. When she hooked up the energy cell to the power supply she had made that part of the puzzle obsolete as there had been more than enough to juice to power the lamps without having to diverting it. Six hadn't known that until she started mapping out the electrical system out of sheer desperation to find out what the compass did. She had turned the whole thing into a red herring.

The lesson she took from the experience was not to mess with Atrus' stuff until she was absolutely sure she knew what everything did and why.

At least they had made it back to the island in one piece, but now she was wet and irritated. Roxie was taking it all better than she was. The dog ran out the library door and jumped into the ocean to play with the fish the minute they arrived. Six left her so she could go lay on the grass to let the warm sun dry her off.

She disturbed several butterflies when she plopped herself down with about as much grace as a super mutant. Six allowed herself to enjoy the weather for a time before retrieving the Blue Book. The Courier flipped it open, and was actually surprised to see Achenar seemingly waiting for her. Impossibly, he looked even twitchier than before.

"You returned...yes, returned...interrogate me...think you know _everything _now...you DON'T...believes Sirrus...Don't believe Sirrus...You don't know...I can show you...Yes. Show you...the AGES! Which Ages survived?" Achenar was rocking back and forth. He looked like he was one step away from tearing off his own skin for lack of anything else to destroy.

Six was no stranger to talking to crazies and chem fiends, so she remained utterly calm during his broken up rant. She didn't let a thing show on her face because people like him had a nasty tendency to jump to their own conclusions with even the minimal amount of input.

"I'll have to get back to you on that one. I haven't found all the books yet. Your father mentioned putting some in Places of Protection. Would you know anything about them?" Six said, betraying nothing in her tone.

Achenar made some sort of strangled noise that had no business coming from a human. He tugged hard at his unkempt hair, looking like he was trying to focus and failing miserably at the task.

"I'll double check some of the odder structures and let you know. We can talk again, okay? You just calm down and gather your thoughts. Things are never over until they're truly over. If you've got something to say, I'll hear it." She closed the book without waiting for a reply.

Six had always believed in fair trials, as her father did before her. He would always tell her that not everything was entirely as it seemed. You can never be sure about something until all the facts were in and every angle examined. She was the only jury those two were going to get if no one else showed up anytime soon. She owed them nothing, but she owed it to herself to be as fair and open minded as possible. She had held onto her old world values all her life, the wasteland hadn't changed that and this deserted island wouldn't either.

What did she know so far? Stoneship was no longer as populated as Atrus claimed, aside from that one blip on the radar that had remained unidentified. Achenar seemed to have confessed to something if she had translated his ramblings correctly. Sirrus was going through withdrawal, and would only get worse by the hour. He also seemed to be quite the hoarder. She was willing to bet those riches weren't conjured up from nowhere. He had either struck it big in another Age, or it was through shady dealings. Either way it bore further investigation.

Six wrote a note in her pip-boy to remind her to ask both brothers how they felt about their parents. Their answers might lead her to the MIA Atrus and Catherine. At least it would start her on the path to finding them.

Right now she had books to locate.

Roxie ran up to her and dropped a dead fish at her feet. The dog sat there expectantly, panting with her tongue hanging out.

Six picked it up gingerly by the tail. "Thanks," She said blandly.

**2**

Four Linking Books in total. Stoneship, Channelwood, Selenitic, and Mechanical. What did they all have in common? They corresponded with the intact journals she found in the office. Most odd. She was willing to bet that the remaining pages were scattered across each.

After finding all the books she ate a small meal consisting of the fish Roxie had so graciously caught for her and there was a jam made with a fruit she had never seen or heard of before. All she knew was that it was sweet and went well on bread. For the resident fisherwoman she provided her with a nice meal of jerky she had found in the pantry.

Once that was done and a moderate nap obtained, she opened the red book first. Unfortunately, all that was there was static with only a black screen behind it. Six sighed, and tried Achenar again.

The man had one hand covering his mouth, and the other was wrapped around his chest. For the first time he looked dead serious, no trace of his usual manic humor anywhere on him.

"Stoneship, Selenitic, Mechanical, and uh...something wood" Six broke off and lifted the last book to show him. "This one...Channelwood. That was it." She dropped it back onto the kitchen table. "Your turn, Giggles."

Achenar didn't remove his hand from his mouth so all of his muttered words came out muffled, "All of those, but Selenitic. Why...she...Selenitic? Doesn't fit..."

Six interrupted, "Stay on track. What about the others? What connects them? We can figure out the outlier later." Was it just the fact that the Linking Book was locked up in the unrealistically set up rocket, and could only be viewed on a video screen that made it different?

Achenar removed his hand and wrapped it around his chest so he was hugging himself, "Mechanical...go to...Sirrus'...behind the throne...not innocent either...if i'm going to be...than he will too...go ahead...go SEE...proof is THERE...don't give him any red pages...not just me..."

"Alright." She held up her hand in the universal sign for 'stop'. "I'll make it my next destination, but I've got one more question for you before I go." Six said.

Achenar just stared at her without blinking.

"Where's the old man?" Six asked. Achenar furrowed his brow, and looked genuinely confused. "Atrus," Six clarified. "Where's your father?"

Fire flashed in his eyes, and hatred twisted his face. He lashed out at the screen with an enraged cry, causing a blast of static to distort the image. When it cleared he was breathing hard and clawing at his face, "Go to Mechanical...See what Sirrus..." The static came back, and didn't recede. Six put the book back in her bag.

The Courier picked up the Linking Book to Mechanical and watched the flyby. She had never seen any type of structure like it. She couldn't see any obvious armaments, but they must have existed if they managed to repel the pirates. If the people were still there she hoped they weren't the shoot first and ask questions later type.

She whistled for Roxie as she placed the book on the ground and weighed the cover down with a mug. She double checked her supplies before Linking away.

**3**

When her vision returned she was standing on one of the three small islands that surrounded the fortress. The sun beat down on her with only a light breeze for relief. Roxie teleported in behind her with a bark, and began to chase her tail. Giant gears made up a great deal of the island, but that wasn't as interesting as the sky. It was a clear blue, not the gray that Atrus had talked about. If the Mechanical Age's superstition about the sky was true than that meant the pirates were gone. Interesting.

Six fiddled with the control panel that she supposed was connected to the section of the metal ground that obviously hid a secret passage. The drawing of a rising floor in Atrus' journal for the Age was another tipoff.

As it turned out, she had spoken ill of Atrus too soon. There was a panel that required a combination of symbols. Now, where was the code? Maybe the brothers knew? Of course, the better question was whether or not they would tell her? Sirrus was acting shy, and Achenar had only sent her to find whatever there was behind some kind of throne.

"Well, Roxie? Ready to do some detective work? There'll be more jerky in it for you." Roxie barked an affirmative and ran ahead across the suspension bridge that was more substantial than the ones in Stoneship. "Let me know if you find anything important!" Six called after her.

No one had come to greet them, and Six had little hope that they would. She was pessimistic that way.

As she was crossing the bridge it occurred to her that the fortress looked to be set up to rotate on the giant circular track outlining it. One bridge, three islands. That was unique way to do it, but she couldn't imagine why such a thing would be needed. Wouldn't three draw bridges work just as well, and be less complicated? All she could assume was that there was some method to the madness she just wasn't seeing.

Unadorned metal walls with lit lamps lining them, a black and white tiled floor, and two branching paths made up the interior of the fortress. Judging by the echoing patter of claws on marble, Roxie had gone right. So, Six went left.

After a single turn in the hall she arrived at a red room. If the color coding theme involving the brothers continued than it belong to Sirrus. It was certainly swanky enough to be. She blinked at the portrait on the wall, she had seen something like it before. She knew she had. Something from a long time ago, but couldn't quite place it. Six cast it from her mind as she turned on the spot in the center of the room, just taking it all in.

There was the throne Achenar was talking about, complete with a wine glass on the arm and gold backplate. Sized for an older child, maybe a teenager, but certainly not for an adult. She looked back at the painting, and knew the young man in garb fit for royalty was indeed Sirrus. Delusions of grandeur, or had he really become a king of the Mechanical Age? It can't be called a delusion if it's the truth. Had he taken the opportunity for a power grab after his dad flitted away to other Ages? According to Atrus the population had been considerably tiny, but would they really let a kid as young as she was guessing Sirrus was at the time rule them? Was it a show of ultimate gratitude for showing them how to make the fortress, or had he enough sway to force the issue?

Achenar had told her there was something behind the throne, but she left that alone for now so she could examine everything in the main part of the room.

There was a telescope pointing out the slitted window, but it didn't show her anything aside from the water. There was an impressive tapestry hanging on a wall behind a red windup bird that flapped when she activated it. Oddly cute for the grandiose look he was going for. There were displays for a small scale representation of the rocket that led to Selenitic, the boat to Stoneship, and a model of the clocktower that led her to the Age she was now in. A large gold vase stood between the rocket and the ship under a painting of a woman.

The last item that bore her scrutiny was a table with a drawer that was jammed shut. On it were odd crystals in glass containers that glowed every time she touched them. Six only stopped playing with them when she finally arrived at the decision to bust open the drawer. Who was going to be upset with her for smashing things? Sirrus? He was currently stuck in a book, and it paled in comparison to how she trashed his room on Stoneship in her search. If she ended up freeing him than they could cross that bridge when they came to it.

After using the handle of the Sonic Emitter to break the table open, she found a journal that was either written in code or some other language she couldn't even begin to comprehend. She flipped through the pages, but there wasn't any clue as to the specifics of what was inside. Sirrus hadn't even drawn any pictures or diagrams like Atrus had. She put it in her bag all the same.

Now, for the throne.

Because she was looking for it, she saw it easily. A panel of a slightly different color than the surrounding wall was hidden in the corner by the tapestry. Just like the one in Stoneship, she pushed against it to open the way.

She had to crawl inside to get in. The first sight that met her were numerous red chests strapped closed with leather buckles. They were like pre-war chests she sometimes found in hotels, but without the rot that accompanied them. Loose gold and silver coins like the ones back in Stoneship were scattered across the marble floor. Only one chest was lying open in the corner. In it was more coins, gold bars smaller then her Sierra Madre ones, and the red page sitting on top as pretty as you please. The scene it made up was almost artfully perfect. The page to free Sirrus in his secret room on an Age that didn't make him look very good.

Six laughed, and shook her head. Variables yet unidentified.

The wine rack was her next target for scrutiny. Red and green bottles lined it. She pulled one off and used the small knife she had pilfered from Sirrus' room on Myst to pull off the cork. She gave it a cautious sniff before taking a sip straight from the bottle. She could safely say it wasn't wine grudgingly aged two hundred years, and it certainly didn't come from the vineyards in California. There was little more to say about it. She had never really been a wine person. No, her poison had been vodka before the Auto Doc in the Sink had solved that for her via experimental surgery. It had been a big problem for her before that. Now, she supposedly couldn't become addicted to anything anymore. She almost wanted to start smoking to see if that theory were at all true.

Six put the wine down on the floor, and picked up the piece of normal paper rolled up in the rack.

_Sirrus,_

_Your greed sickens me! Your desire for wealth and plunder is never satisfied. I will instruct my subjects not to pay your new tax and you know they'll listen to me. _

_Regards,_

_Achenar_

Huh.

Six sat down beside the wine bottle and leaned her back up against a chest as she pulled the red book out of her bag. She took one more sip before reattaching the new page. When she opened the cover she didn't give Sirrus enough time to say anything.

"_Taxes?_ Does your _evil _know no _bounds_?" Six said in the most dramatic voice she could muster. Dr. Borous would be proud, if she didn't say so herself.

Sirrus' eyes widened, and she could practically see the cogs in his head turning.

She by continued, "You know, if I melted all the gold I have ever seen in my life it would not even begin to come close to recreating that room of yours on Stoneship. That is something when you consider that I once came into contact with about thirty-seven gold bars weighing thirty-five pounds each. I thought that was amazing, but _this_." She waved her arms to encompass the room. "Boy, it must have taken you awhile to get your hands on all of this. How did you do it?"

He gave her what was probably his most charming smile, "It's a long story...be happy to tell you when I'm freed...there are two more red pages...warn you, don't touch the blue pages...that is where my...for my wicked brother, Achenar..."

She wanted to bash her head against something. He was just repeating things he had already said before, and wasn't answering any questions. Time for a bluff.

"I know, Sirrus. Achenar confessed. He told me everything," Six said. It took every ounce of her willpower to stop from grinning as she watched the news sink in.

Shock and horror flashed across his face before finally settling on a poisonous rage. Instead of lashing out like Achenar had earlier, he clenched his jaw so tightly she thought he would crack his teeth, and ice consumed his stare. That was all she needed.

Before he could react in any significant way she said, "You and I are going to play a little game. I'll ask a question, you'll answer. If I even think that you're lying, or you back out of this conversation, I'll start ripping out pages. Understood?"

He gave her only curt nod in reply. If looks could kill...

"First up. How can I get home?" She started.

"If...isn't a Linking Book back...you can't."

"Figures.," Six sighed. "Alright, where is everyone in Mechanical, Stoneship, Channelwood, and Selenitic?"

"Dead, or displaced." He shrugged. Sirrus might as well have been discussing the weather.

"Elaborate," Six demanded. She resisted the urge to take a pull from the wine bottle still sitting next to her.

"In Stoneship...wanted a home away from Myst...took one...didn't want to share. Achenar killed enough...to get our point across...rest left...boats. On Channelwood was where...and I had our first falling out...didn't get along well at all after that...After the fight, I left him unchecked...came back to find most of the people dead...Selenitic was always uninhabited." Sirrus waved his hand in a dismissive way. She couldn't help but notice they were trembling. Painkiller withdrawal does not give people the shakes.

Six gestured around, "What about here? What did the pair of you do here? Work with the pirates?"

"No!" He snapped, actually having the gall to look offended. "They...small population...we were careless."

"That's it? You were careless?" She sounded more weary than disgusted. Six had long ago gotten used to the human capacity for cruelty. She had seen it all at one point or another. Murder, rape, cannibalism, genocide, mass suicide, war, torture, extortion, you name it and she's seen it.

He said nothing.

"Answer me or say goodbye to your precious pages." She gripped the book with both hands so there would be no doubt in his head that she was prepared to do just that.

"What...that you want?" Sirrus said.

She raised an eyebrow, "Excuse me?"

"You know... we've done, and yet here you...talking to me still. You're threatening to...the pages, but you are not. You could execute me...haven't. You want something. Whatever...is, I'll pay it." He held out his hands palms up as if to show her that he meant no harm. His sincere expression was almost convincing, and she could see how he might have gotten away with so much.

Six gave him a smile that didn't reach her eyes, "Everyone has a price. The problem here is that I don't think you are capable of paying mine anytime soon, Sirrus. What I want isn't money, or anything with material value. No, I'm one those annoying fools who put stock in the things you can't touch, or even see in the usual sense." She looked him dead in the eyes as she said, "The only thing that would get me to free you from this book would be for you to ask for forgiveness for all of things you have done, and mean it with all your heart. Repentance. That is my price."

**Meanwhile**

Roxie separated from Six, the promise of more jerky urging her on. Almost the moment she entered the fortress her nose picked up the familiar scent of a rotting corpse, but that had seemed less important to her than the scent of another human who was not Six. Her built in motion-tracker agreed with her nose. It was the same one who had been in the place her friend called Stoneship. Six would want to know.

The cyber dog almost started barking, but thought better of it. The last time she tried that the person had run off, and Six hadn't believed her. Roxie wagged her tail and crept forward passed the room with the weapons as quiet as she could, hunting for her target like the wolves of old. The only problem was that her claws kept clicking against the floor, but there was nothing she could do about it.

She kept close to the wall as she peeked around the corner. There was the person, a female. She was coming towards Roxie, but the human appeared deep into her own head. It gave the dog enough time to back away and hide behind the big chair. The female walked right passed her without noticing.

There was a bang from somewhere that sounded like wood breaking. The woman stopped to frown before she started walking again at a faster speed.

Once she was out of the room, Roxie hastened to follow. She was going towards Six! She repressed a growl as she stalked a good distance behind the woman, making sure not to lose her scent.

The human was peering around the corner into the red room Six's scent was coming from. A sound came from inside that was the same as the one from the fake wall in Stoneship. The female waited several moments before entering the room on quiet feet.

Roxie pursued, forgoing stealth.

The human caught her swift movement immediately. She spun, took one look at the dog, and ran down the second connecting hall. Roxie broke into sprint to keep up with her, but when she turned the corner the human was gone. Just gone.

Roxie tried to pick up her scent again, but it ended there. She sat down and whined.

**4**

"Roxie? What's wrong?" Six asked when she encountered Roxie wandering towards Sirrus' throne room with her tail between her legs. She knelt down to pet her, "Didn't find anything?"

Roxie pulled her head away from Six's hands, and set off back the way she came. She looked back once make sure the Courier was following her.

"You did find something?" Six asked. "I bet its Giggles' room. I hope there's a clue about where Atrus has gone. I've caught Sirrus red handed, but the bastard's still stonewalling me." She scratched her head, "I've given him something to think about for now. The best thing I think I can do with him at the moment is just let him stew in his misery for a bit. If I play my cards right, I think I can squeeze some more information out of him." Six laughed, "That man is so smart, and yet so stupid at the exact same time. It's astounding."

She broke off when she came to a stop beside Roxie.

The room held the general dirty clutter she was beginning to associate with Achenar. Eerie red lighting shined on the black and white tile. She stepped inside and located his version of a throne immediately. Instead of black marble and gold it was made out of simple wood with blue cushions. On the opposite wall hung weapons she had no doubt saw common use. Across from that hung a tribal looking mask above a plaque that held crossed sabers on display. Over the swords was a wooden depiction of a four winged insect Six recognized from somewhere, but couldn't name.

Achenar sure liked his maces.

Six pulled the crossbow off the weapon rack, and tested its weight. She braced the stock on her shoulder and aimed down the sights. She had never used a crossbow before, but that didn't stop her from taking it and the quiver of bolts. When she got back to the island she would have to set up a range to test it out. The Ages might be mostly deserted, but she was in contact with two morally bankrupt gentlemen. She didn't know enough about Atrus' Art to feel safe with just some knives and the Sonic Emitter with the books around. For all she knew there was a way beyond the pages they could use to escape. Six was not taking that chance.

The jack-in-the-box went ignored when she caught sight of the metal helmet sitting on an overturned chest next to another sword. She picked up the saber to examine the craftsmanship. It was professional work. From Atrus' journal she had gathered the people of Mechanical hadn't been much for fighting, and a sword of that type had been made to be used. Six put the weapon back down. He had probably got it from the pirates in some way.

Roxie barked at her.

The dog was pawing at a part of a wall beside the throne with a yellow strip painted on it. Six opened it, and held Roxie back. She switched on her pip-boy light and checked around the entrance for traps. Satisfied, she climbed in first.

A cage, shelves with familiar looking poison bottles, and a crude wooden box. Six sighed. At least it was cleaner than most raider hideouts. Achenar actually took the time to clean up the blood. She glanced down as Roxie entered behind her and saw the meat clever in a woodblock by the door.

Already having a bad feeling, she shoved open the box. A decomposing severed head met her on the other side, a once over of the inside proved there was nothing of value aside from body parts so she closed the lid again.

Roxie nudged her in the direction of the shelves. She followed her line of sight to see the blue page sitting on the bottom. Six grabbed it, and headed out of the secret torture chamber. She had seen enough.

The Courier didn't bother to shut the door on her way out. She collapsed on Achenar's throne, put the page down so she could get a drink of water. With that task done, Six drummed her finger on the arm of the chair as she thought aloud for Roxie to hear.

"Achenar's cooperating so far. If only to make sure his brother burns along with him, and Sirrus has pretty much confirmed they don't really get along. So, why work together in the first place? I've gathered enough from what they've said to figure out they are both responsible for burning Atrus' Linking Books, and probably for the disappearance of of their parents." She leaned back in the chair, and folded her arms over her chest. "Why ever do two people who dislike each other work together? It's always a question of hatred. How much did they hate their parents to set aside their differences?" Six rubbed the bridge of her nose, "If they murdered Atrus, we might just be stuck here."

She picked up the blue page once more and put it back where it belonged. Achenar was biting his nails on the other side of the little window.

"So, you two were working together." Six said.

Achenar's lips pulled into a smile, and he giggled.

"Where are your parents?"

He stopped snickering, and stared off at something only he could see. He might as well have been a thousand miles away. She needed to get his attention.

"You know," Six started conversationally. "I could destroy both of these books. It might just kill you. But I'm not going to do that." Six shook her head, "Noooo. What I'm going to do is leave you both here to rot, because death is far too kind a fate for what the two of you have done. How does that sound to you, huh? Living trapped in these books for the rest of your life? What do you think of that?"

Achenar slowly removed his fingers from his mouth, and screamed.

Chapter Five End

**Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING**


	7. Troubles By the Score

**The Good, the Bad, and the Insane**

**Chapter Six: Troubles By the Score**

Six was going over her notes for lack of anything better to do. There was no point in continuing to look for pages both brothers knew she'd never give them, or going to the remaining Ages when they were both deserted. Maybe confronting them hadn't been the brightest idea she had ever had, but in her defense she hadn't entirely known just what it was Sirrus would inadvertently confess to.

All she had was what she had gathered so far because Sirrus was clammed up shut, and Achenar had lost all semblance of sanity he had left. She had thought about threatening to destroy the red book, but she thought Sirrus had managed to figure out she had been bluffing earlier and now wasn't about to believe a word she said. Oh, he had looked _furious_ when she had opened the book again after returning from Mechanical. Refused to say one word to her. Achenar was the opposite. He said plenty to her, just none of it in any way helpful. _'Skin you alive, break your bones, cut out your tongue, blah, blah, blah...'_

Six knew she needed to come up with a contingency plan on the chance Atrus had taken her way back home to his grave, but she wasn't quite ready to call it quits. It's never over until it's over, and she hadn't found his corpse yet.

She sighed, and rubbed her face. What if she was stuck on Myst with only the brothers, and Roxie for company? It would certainly be a boring existence. Speaking of boredom, she was sick of looking at the blue display on her pip-boy and changed it to green. She was just in a green mood.

Roxie was off somewhere above ground. Six supposed she ought to go take the elevator to find her before it got too late. The nights on the island were cold ones, she wouldn't want to trap the dog up there in that weather.

The elevator ride was taken in complete silence. It was a damn shame the Mysterious Broadcast didn't reach wherever in cosmos she was because she could really go for a some smooth jazz to improve her mood. Six had looked all over the living quarters for something that played music, but came up with nothing. There had been the organ in the rocket ship, but she was not going all the way out there for an instrument she didn't really know how to play. Agatha had taught her the violin, but there wasn't one around and she could only play about two songs adequately anyway.

The elevator door opened in that abrupt motion it had, and she stepped out to find Roxie. When she walked into the library she was glad to find her fears that the dog would be playing in the ocean again unfounded. Roxie was sniffing around the fireplace looking every bit in deep concentration as she was when she was tracking someone.

"What is it?" Six asked, startling the cyber dog. In response, Roxie pawed at the back of the fireplace. "Another secret panel?" She got down inside the large space beside her and pressed against the wall.

Nothing happened.

Roxie growled, and butted her head against it.

"Relax, I believe you. Another one of Atrus' illusions, probably." She sighed and rubbed her eyes, "I'll check it out in the morning, right now it's bedtime. Come on, girl."

**2**

Six slept in. She figured she had earned it. The only thing of urgency that required any attention were the brothers, but she had already resolved to leave them alone for a bit in hopes they would start singing different tunes when they realized they were stuck with her.

When she finally got up from her makeshift bed on the couch it was close to noon. She helped herself to a long bath, and more of the food in the kitchen before checking in on Sirrus.

He was making a truly valiant effort not to show just how bad off he was. Had she not known anything about medicine she might have believed he was fine.

"I have thought a lot about what you said," Sirrus began softly, refusing to meet her eyes. "You're right. I have done terrible, terrible things. I know that, I have known. You might not believe me, but it's something that's been weighing on my conscience for a long time." He raised a hand to his forehead and shook his head, "But you've met Achenar. I feared what he would do to me if I refused to help him with his twisted pleasures, but I know that just makes me a coward. I can't do it anymore. I told Achenar, I did, I told him that helping him remove father from the picture would be the very last time I assisted him." Sirrus finally looked at her with great sorrow etched on his face, "But then we both ended up trapped in these books and you came along. You are absolutely right. I have done horrible things, but I am so sorry. So, so sorry. All I want to do is make amends and apologize to father. Please, that's all I want."

Six looked at the time on her pip-boy, "Nice. Try adding tears next time, Crocodile, it adds wonders to the effect you're going for." She snapped the book shut, and addressed Roxie who was tearing into the largest piece of jerky Six had found. "He's pretty good, but if he wants to be a professional con-artist than he's got a lot to learn before he tries to set up shop somewhere like the Strip. He'd probably get himself shot there."

Roxie barked in agreement.

"I want to ask them the details of their condition, but all I'll get out of them is more lies." Six toyed with her empty glass, "My working theory is that their in some kind of stasis, maybe not completely frozen, but close enough to it. Sirrus' symptoms are progressing far slower than they should be, and neither of them have complained of hunger. Unless I find evidence otherwise, that's what I'm going with. From the sounds of things, no one's going to shed a tear if they do end up starving to death in there. I'll feel pretty bad, but I suspect I'll be able to get over it." She picked up her dishes and began to wash them. "What is interesting is that Sirrus was talking about apologizing to his father. You can't do that to a dead man. Well, you can, but I don't think that's what he meant at all." The one shred of flimsy evidence to renew her hopes. That Sirrus was just a goldmine of information when he doesn't mean to be.

The two rode the elevator back up to the library level with Six singing to break up the silence that was slowly driving her mad.

"I don't want to set the world on fire. I just want to start a flame in your heart. I've lost all ambition...Hey, Rox, have those books always been on that shelf? Am I an idiot, or is that new?" Six asked as she bent down to pick up the books tucked into the corner of the bookshelf she had previously dismissed as empty. "Have I been walking passed them all this time?" They was at least partially burned. "Wait, no. These are the books I saved from the fireplace downstairs. Did I place them up here and forget about it?"

Roxie gave her equivalent of a shrug.

"Wouldn't be the first time. That's what the pip-boy's for, alternative memory." She went through them. All but one of them were completely trashed. She dropped the ruined ones with a puff of ash accompanying their arrival to the ground. The survivor was full of square patterns. She flipped through the pages, but saw nothing that stood out or even what they were for.

She put the books back onto the shelf, and went over to the fireplace. Roxie laid down by the entrance with her head resting on her paws to stay out of Six's way as she worked.

The Courier was a bit on the shorter side- which she attributed to living underground for the first nineteen years of her life- and so she could fit into the space comfortably. She knocked against the wall. It wasn't thick. C-4 could probably blast it open had she possessed any.

She pushed her hair back as she turned around, and immediately wished she had just done that earlier. There was a button to the side of the opening of the fireplace. Six pressed it and watched as a bronze color panel slid down in front of her. Six touched it and a square indented where she pressed. She touched it again and the square disappeared.

Six messed with the panel in front of her for two minutes before the realization hit her.

"Roxie! Bring me the pattern book." She called. A few moments later, Roxie slid the book through the gap between the fireplace and the panel. Six searched the pages, but couldn't find any one pattern that looked more likely than the others. "There are hundred here." Six thought about searching Atrus' office again, but she had already done that three times. If there had been any indication on which pattern was going to work than she would have already found it. The brothers certainly weren't going to tell her if they even knew. "This is the best lead I've got. Why don't you go play outside." She sighed, "I'll be here awhile."

**3**

"Who the devil are you?" The man in the newly discovered book asked the second she opened the cover. Atrus looked positively exhausted. Like minutes away from just collapsing on his desk.

"Confused, irritated, tired, hungry, but most people address me as 'Six' these days. You can call me that if you're the fashionable type." Six leaned up against the wall in the hidden room. After well over a hundred patterns she had finally found the combination. Inside had been the green book, and two pages in familiar colors. "You're Atrus. Nice to see you're still kicking around."

"D-Don't come here to D'ni-not yet. Oh, I have many questions for you, my friend, as you, no doubt, have for me. Where should I begin?" Atrus asked, a newfound energy spurring him on.

"The beginning's a good place unless you're pressed for time," Six said.

He nodded, "Yes, of course. As you have already guessed, my name is Atrus. I fear you have met my sons, Sirrus and Achenar, in the red and blue books, on Myst Island, in my library, my library...Oh, it contains my works, my writings. Oh, I wrote many books, many books that lead me to fantastic places. It's an art I learned from my father many years ago. Oh, but the red and blue books, those were different. I wrote those book to trap over-greedy explorers that might stumble upon my island of Myst-"

Six interrupted him, "I have met your prodigal sons and can guess for myself how they got stuck in there, skip that bit for now."

"I...oh, yes. You're right. They lured me here to D'ni, using their mother- they used their own _mother_- Oh, my dear Catherine- as bait. Of course, I could return to Myst, except they removed a single page from my Myst Linking Book. I cannot return without that page- you, my friend, can bring that page to me here in D'ni, I could go to Myst and bring justice to my sons for what they have done."

"Okay, hold up, do you know where they might have put that page? 'Cause they aren't about to tell me a damn thing." Six said, moving to leave the fireplace to meet back up with the waiting Roxie.

Atrus shook his head, "I'm afraid not, my friend. You will have to find some clue as to where they might have put it."

Roxie must still be outside as she wasn't in the library when Six made it out. "What if they burned it?" She asked.

"I can only hope that they haven't. I must return to my writing. Please hurry. My wife's life hangs in the balance."

Chapter Six End


	8. That's Life

**The Good, the Bad, and the Insane**

**Chapter Seven: That's Life**

"Have you found the missing page?" Atrus asked when she returned to him.

"No, but I got you another Myst book." Six held it up to show him.

"Where did you get that?" He gasped, setting down the pen he had been writing with.

"Stoneship," Six answered. "I thought about it, and realized getting you a new one would be easier than finding a page that may or may not still be intact. If I Link to where you are with this in hand, will it come through too?"

"Yes! I hadn't even thought about that," He said as he rubbed his tired eyes. Atrus waved at her, "Come, come. Come on then."

**2**

"Ah, my friend." Atrus greeted on her arrival with a smile. They were in a once grand room made entirely of stone. It looked to her like it could have been some sort of temple, like in the old books about ancient civilizations. Now most of it was nothing more than rubble. Shame. Atrus got her attention once more by holding out his hand. "Please, give me the Linking Book." Six did as she was told just as Roxie Linked in beside her. Atrus dropped the book on his desk in shock, "What is that?" He adjusted his glasses and stood up to get a better look. "I've never seen anything quite like it before."

Six reached down to pet her dog, "Roxie here is a Mark III Cyberhound made for law enforcement support. I wouldn't have found you without her." The dog licked her fingers in response.

"Indeed? Than I owe her a debt of gratitude," Atrus said. He made as if to approach them, but then stopped and looked back down at the Myst book. His curious expression drained from him to be replaced by sorrow. He sighed and opened it, "My sons have betrayed me. I know what I must do. I shall return shortly."

"Uh, no you won't," Six blurted out quickly before he could Link away. "If you're leaving to deal with your kids than there's no reason to. I got them here." She patted the bag at her side.

"Give the books to me, please." Atrus held out his hand, "So, I can put an end to this painful chapter."

"End?" That sounded awfully final. "What about Catherine?"

Defensiveness took over his features, "What about my wife?"

"She's their mom, right? Shouldn't she get a say in what is to be done with them?" She asked.

"Their mother could be dead very soon if I do not hurry." The words alone seemed to have hurt him physically to say before he took a deep breath and covered it up. "I fear my long delay may have already had a catastrophic impact on the world in which she is being held hostage. I am fighting a foe much greater than either of my sons could imagine."

"Than stop wasting time with the bastards, and get on that rescue mission." Six planted her hands on the surface of the desk. "Unless I'm wrong, they can wait a bit. You're angry- understandably so- and that doesn't lend to clear decision making. Calm down, and really think about it before doing anything with them, but only after Catherine is safe."

Atrus collapsed back into his chair looking drained,"I just...my own sons...what they've done..."

"Exactly, Atrus. Your sons. Remember that. You are their father above all else," She told him. "But, if you have any respect for your wife at all than you'll wait for her before you make any big decisions regarding Achenar and Sirrus."

He sat there, just absorbing everything she had said. The cavern was silent except for the noises of Roxie's curious explorations. Eventually, he reached for his pen and dipped it into the inkwell.

"I need to write."

End

To be continued in the sequel...

**Author's Note:**

This turned out shorter than I thought it would. Really, this is just a set up for the big divergent stuff that's going to happen in the sequels. The version of Riven coming up is probably going to be a lot longer than this, but we'll see.

The decision I made not to have the Courier bother going to the remaining Ages is that there was simply no point. The purpose of the Ages was to see what the Dynamic Duo had done. She just pretty much used a Speech check to figure out the brothers in advance. I'd say you would need about seventy-five or eighty in Speech to successfully bluff Sirrus. I mean, listen, in New Vegas the Courier can convince Legate Lanius to retreat with his whole army at the the Battle of Hoover Dam.

As this series goes on, the canon divergence is going to skyrocket until the events that take place in later games aren't going to be recognizable. This is already setting up a much different story for Myst IV and V, so stay tuned to see what happens.

I'll meet you in Riven,

_Home On the Wastes_

**Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING!**


End file.
